Fusee



Feb. 27, 1951 FusEE Filed .July 5, A19% FRANKLIN ...ww nl/.

IN V EN TOR W LIN uwl auf ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 27, 1951 UNITED 4STATES PATENT' QFFICE FUsEg Franklin W. Qlin, Alt-ont lll., assigneri to The lflclnitahlcA Powder Manufacturing Company, Y East Alton., Ill a corporation of, Delaware ApplicationJulyA 5, 1946, Serial No. 681,469

1 0 Claims. (C17, 10272373) This invention relates tof fusees` or coloredlisht torches. oithe type used tor Signal purposes.-

'Ijhe ordinary fusse,A which consists of a cylindrical charge ci hyrotechn-io composition having a match head at its upper end is providedI With a closure cap, on the radial end4 face of which a scratch composition, including friction material, is arranged. The closure cap is adhered to the body of the fusee so as. to conceal and protect the match head. When it is desired to ignite the fftisee,I the closure cap` is removed by twisting the cap relative to the fusee body until the adhering vvraoher ruptures, whereupon the cap is removed and, after canoeing the scratch material on. the end; of the cap, the latter is manipulated engagementwith the match head of the fusee, so4 as to ignite the latter. In this, manipulation of the parte, leading` to ignition, the closure cap. with ite Scratch surface is, necessarily held in euch. position that thev hand is in the path of fire Which Will result upon ignition of the fusee. Oftentiines workmen have been burned. While manipulating a fusee in this manner to ignite the saine.

One object of the invention is to provide a fusee which may be ignited with certainty,v facility. and Safetyu Another ooiect ci the invention is to oro-vide a fusee closure having adequate protective, characteristics but withal more economical to manu.- iacture and aeserohle than those heretofore erriployedr Other obieote and. advantages will become apparent from the following` detail description and accompanying drawings, in which FigureY l isa, perspective view oi' a fuSee illustrating one embodiment of the invention aS. it a1?- oears when., ready for the market;

Figure 2. is longitudinal Section oi the embodiment of the fusee shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating the embodiment of Figure l with closure partially released; l

Figure 4 is a perspective View of the fusee with the closure entirely removed and in striking position;

Figure 5 is a, development view of a part of the closure removed from the fusee between the conditions illustrated in Figures 3 and 4; and

Figure 6 is a development View of a Wrapper elenrierit.y

lh accordance with the hreeent invention, the flusee, which. as usual, has a match head,y is provided with an improvedprotective closure for the match head end. of. the insee; The invention is characterized by the provision of a closure so constructed and arranged as to provide a cylindrical or partially cylindrical striking surface, which is normally enclosed and hence protected, but which, upon removal of the closure, becomes exposed for use as a striker for the match head of the tusee. An important aspect of the invention is the arrangement of said cylindrical striking surface about one end` of an elongated closure member so as to provide a handle. portion laterally remote from the striking surface. The striker may thus be manipulated Without bringing the. hand into a gone o f the dame; which results from the striking operation. The invention also contemplatesy that the striking surface ber sor coordinated with the closure Mstructure that, upon` rupture of the latter, the former is, with certainty, unobstructed by papel or other inert material which might otherwise become interposed between the Striker and the match head.

Referring` to the4 drawings for an illustrative embodiment o the invention, the fufsee comprises a paper tube l.. closed at one end by a. plus 2. having a spike 3. The plug 2 may consist of convolutions of paper. The end portion il. of tube l is then folded .over and crimped against clue 2, which ie Simultaneously compressed. in. a direction parallel to the axis of the tube to forni a sturdy water-tight closure. The tube i is charged with combustible material. i. which may be any of the usual slow-burning pyrotechnic compositions,k A t the upper end of charge 5, a paper washer 5 is arranged and a match head I extends through the washer 6, into a cavity t in the charge 5 with a generous pQl'tion exposed above washer 6 for striking. The tube l is closed by crimping or turning the end thereof inwardly into washer 6 about match 1, as indicated at 9.

lIFhe tclosure for the upper end of the fusee which characterizes this invention includes a tube lil, Which may be rnade of spirally wound paper or of cardboard. If desired, one end of the tube Ii) may be closed by infolding or the provision of a suitable Wad or plug thereat, but such is not essential in the example shown in the drawings. Adjacent one end of tube HL a band of friction material I! is painted or adhered to the exterior of the tube. In the embodiment shown, and as preferred, the band of friction material is circumferentially continuous, but is coni-ined to the region adjacent one end of the tube so as to leave a` substantial length of tube between the band l l and the opposite end of tube ID. A strip of protective material l2, such as textile fabric, is applied over the band Il preferably Without adhesion thereto. With the tubes I and IS telescoped, as shown in Figure 2, a sheet I3, which may be tissue paper, is wrapped about the tubes so as to substantially overlap both ends of tube IG. The sheet I3 is adhesively secured to tube I below the end of tube IQ and is adhesively secured to tube IG above band II and tape I2.

A convenient procedure for effecting the desired relationship of the parts just described is to provide the wrapper-sheet I3 (having a length substantially in excess of the length of tube III and a width slightly in excess of the circumference thereof) with an adhesive coating on one side. The tape I2 is adhered to the sheet I3 with an extending tab I4, as shown in Figure 6, and in proper position on the sheet I3, so that when the latter is in the position shown in Figure 2, the tape I2 will marginally overlap the band of friction material I I. Having thus preassembled the sheet I3 and tape I2, the assembly may be applied over the telescoped tubes I and It, as aforesaid, and so that the tab I4 of tape I2 is accessible outside the wrapping I3. The portion of sheet I3 which extends beyond the upper end of tubes i and IIi may be twisted together, as shown at I5, or otherwise infolded, while the adhesive coating is still active. The assembled fusee is then given a final water-proofing treatment by immersing it in paraffin or' other` suitable water-prooflng agent.

In order to light or re the fusee, the tab I4 n is grasped and tape I2 ripped from the fusee in the manner shown in Figure 3, which operation uncovers the friction material II and removes a section of wrapper I3 beyond the edges thereof.

This releases the tube If! and the adjunct remainder of wrapper I3 from the tube I.

The tube II) is then grasped at the top, slipped off the tube I, and the fusee is ignited by rubbing the friction material II against the match 1. As shown in Figure 4, it will be observed that the tube II) is sufciently elongated that it may be grasped at a zone remote from' the striker I I and manipulated without bringing the hand into the path of the re.

Since the friction material II completely encircles the cap IB, it is not necessary to turn the closure cap in the hand to locate the friction material II, for instance, in the dark, and lighting of the fusee can be accomplished merely by rubbing the nearest side of the cap on the match 1. The band of friction material II encircling the cap need not be continuous, that is, the band may consist of closely spaced spots, stripes, or the like, substantially uniformly distributed around the cap, provided that the spaces between such spots or strips are not large enough to interfere with the striking of the match. Since the open end of tube ID, Where the striker II is located,

is quite exible radially, it will distort under-Y striking pressure so as to flatten the striker somewhat and thereby provide a sufficiently long stroke while the striker is in engagement with the match.

The unwinding of tape I2 is effective to tear the wrapper I3 between the friction material Il and the portion of the wrapper adhering to the cap, as at I6. Thus torn edges of the wrapper I3 are prevented from hanging over the friction material, which would interfere with the match striking operation. Removal of tape I?. releases the cap from adhesive connection with the tube I, and the cap can be easily slipped olf the tube without any further tearing operation.

Thetape I2 should be constructed with a tab portion I4 so that it can be readily grasped by y proved fusee,

the fingers, for example, by extending beyond the outer edge of wrapper I3, as illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 4 illustrates the fusee after tape I2 has been removed and with the cap in position to strike the match. When the opening tape I2 is made su'iciently wide to cover the friction material II and lower edge of cap I0, in accordance with the embodiment illustrated, the entire wrapper I3 may be coated with adhesive, since tape I2 then prevents wrapper I3 from adhering to the friction material Il and lower edge of cap I0. If a narrower tape is employed, care should be taken to prevent any adhering of the wrapper I3 to the friction material II, for example, by omitting adhesive from this portion of the wrapper. For instance, the function of tape I2 may be accomplished by a string woundV about the cap IIJv between the friction material and that portion of the wrapper adhering to the cap inY a position such as at IE, in which case adhesive is omitted from the wrapper between the string and bottom of the cap I0, so that the portion of the wrapper I3 covering the friction material II and lower edge of the cap III is retained on tube I when the string is pulled to cir-cumferentially tear the wrapper at I6 and the cap II) is slipped off the tube I.

Although a crimp or twist closure, such as illustrated at I5, is preferred because of its simplicity and effectiveness, tube IIJ may .be closed at thetop by means of a paper wad or other suitable device.

The invention accordingly provides an imfacilitating handling and use thereof, and eliminating many disadvantages extant with prior fusees. that the embodiment of the present invention as shown and described is merely illustrative, and that the scope of the invention is not to be limited thereby except as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A closure for the match-end of a fuses comprising an elongated tubular cap, a band of friction material exteriorly encircling the axial wall of said cap near one end thereof.

2. In a fusee, a closure for the match-end of the fusee comp-rising a tubular cap, a band of friction material exteriorly encircling the axial v Wall of said cap, and a Wrapper covering said friction material and securing said cap to said fusee.

3. In a fusee, a closure for the match-end of the fusee comprising a tubular cap, a band of friction material exteriorly encircling the axial wall of said cap adjacent one end thereof, a Wrapper adhered to the fusee adjacent one margin of the friction material and adhered to said cap adjacent the margin of friction material, and an opening tape overlying the friction material beneath the wrapper, said tape having a tab portion exposed outside said wrapper.

4. In a fusee, a closure for the match-end of the fusee comprising a tubular cap, a band of friction material encircling the wall of said cap, an opening tape covering said friction material having an exposed tab portion, and a wrapper adhered to said tape, to said cap, and to said fusee holding said tape in position on said friction material and securing said cap to said fusee.

5. In a fusee, a closure/for the match-end of the 'fusee comprising a tubular cap, a layer of friction material encircling said cap, circumferentially continuous adhesive securing said cap to It is to be understood Y said tube, and means covering said friction material adapted upon removal to loosen said cap from said fusee. l

6. A fusee comprising a tube charged with combustible material, one end of said tube being closed, a match composition at the other end of the tube in contact-With the combustible material, a tubular cap covering the match-end of said tube, a band of friction material encircling the outer Wall of said cap, a paper Wrapper securing said cap on said tube, and a tape having a tab portion Wound under said Wrapper, said tape being adhered to the wrapper and adapted upon removal to circumferentially tear said Wrapper, remove the overlying portion of the Wrapper, loosen said cap from said tubeand expose said Vfriction material.

7. A fusee comprising a tube charged With combustible material, one end of said tube being closed, a match composition in contact With the combustible material at the other end of said tube, a tubular cap covering the match-end of said tube, a band of friction material encircling and adjacent the open end of said cap, a paper Wrapper adhesively holding said cap on said tube, and an opening tape wound about said cap under said Wrapper having a tab p0rtion exposed and adapted upon removal to tear said paper Wrapper, loosen said cap from said tube, and expose said friction material.

8. A fusee comprising a tube charged with combustible material, one end of said tube being closed, a match composition at the other end of the tube in contact with the combustible material, a tubular cap covering the match-end of the tube, a band of friction material encircling said cap, a tape having a tab portion wound over said friction material and lower edge of said cap, and a paper wrapper holding said tape in position and holding said cap on said tube, said tape being adapted during removal to tear said wrapper, uncover said friction material, and loosen the cap from the tube.

9. A fusee comprising a tube charged with combustible material, one end of said tube being closed, a match composition contacting the combustible material at the other end of the tube, a cap covering the match-end of said tube, a band of friction material encircling the Wall of said cap, a Wrapper securing said cap to said tube, and an opening tape under said Wrapper having an exposed tab.

10. In a fusee, a closurerfor the match-end of the fusee comprising a tubular cap, a band of friction material exteriorly encircling the axial Wall of said cap, a readily tearable paper wrapper covering the friction material and adhered to the cap and the fusee at opposite edges of said band, and a textile tape relatively stronger than said paper Wrapper interposed between said wrapper and said band, said tape being adhered to said Wrapper beyond the edges of said band.

FRANKLIN W. OLIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 795,632 Matthew July 25, 1905 929,409 Dutcher July 27, 1909 960,094 Jackson May 31, 1910 

